


Different Now

by Beek_100



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fights, Friendship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Making Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 11:57:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15024089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beek_100/pseuds/Beek_100
Summary: Daryl and Paul are in a happy relationship, but when Daryl's old flame, Rick Grimes, wants to meet up, Paul's fears come to light.





	Different Now

“I don’t get why you’re being so fucking childish about this, Paul. It’s a drink, a drink with a friend I haven’t seen or heard from in years”, Daryl groaned, slipping his leather jacket on over his shirt.

Paul sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. The situation had escalated since the conversation had begun; both men had argued their sides, fighting each other and as both were as stubborn as one another, it had not progressed well. 

“I don’t appreciate being called childish, Daryl. You know why I don’t like this, the two of you used to sleep together in college, he was your fuck buddy before he decided to marry a woman and have kids, and you haven’t seen each other in 6 years. Oh, and he just got divorced. Have I missed anything?” Paul gritted out through his teeth in one breath.   
Daryl slammed his wallet into his pocket, turning to face Paul with a hard expression on his face.

“You seriously not trust me to be alone with him? The fuck, Paul?” Daryl said, his jaw set, “We been together four years, we fucking live together, we share a mortgage, bills, a car, a bed, have all the same friends and I fucking love you. But one person from my past comes back to reconnect as friends, and you suddenly let all that fall away to act like a fucking child?

“What if it was Alex who called me to meet up to reconnect?” Paul gritted out. Daryl froze.

Alex was a sore subject between the two men, and Paul almost felt bad bringing him up. He had been seeing Alex when he first met Daryl five years prior, and Daryl had more or less saved him from the asshole. Alex had been emotionally manipulative, bitchy and controlling, and when Daryl had convinced him to leave, he’d come to live with his friend, leading to them falling for each other and never looking back.

“Fuck you”, Daryl croaked, “I’m going out, don’t wait up”

And with that, Daryl grabbed his bike keys and in four steps had left the apartment, leaving Paul with the echoing slam of the front door and the silent tears running down his cheeks.

 

Daryl took a deep breath as he got off his bike at the bar. He had broken several speed limits driving there, it was lucky Rick was a cop. 

He still hadn’t wrapped his head around the fact he’d be seeing Rick again after all these years. He couldn’t wait to ask how the man was doing with everything going on and tell him all about Paul and their life, even if Paul had acted like an ass about it.

It wasn’t as if Daryl didn’t get it. Rick had been his first love; they had begun sleeping together in college and had wanted different things from the situation. Rick wanted to experiment, Daryl wanted love. They parted ways as friends, but once Rick met his future wife, he didn’t speak to Daryl again, leaving with her and their unborn baby to live a new life that didn’t involve him. He would be lying if he said it hadn’t broken him to be abandoned like that, but despite all that had happened, when Rick had called out of the blue to tell him he’d moved back to the state, newly divorced and wanted to meet up with an old friend, Daryl hadn’t hesitated to say yes. Probably part of the reason Paul was so unhappy, because he could see Daryl would still jump to Rick’s call.

Daryl shook himself out of these thoughts, straightened his jacket and hair and headed into the bar with another deep breath.  
The smell of stale cigarettes, beer and the loud voices hit Daryl’s senses immediately as he entered; the other patrons paid him no attention as he weaved his way through them, searching for the tell-tale brown curls and lopsided smile he hadn’t seen for six years. Would Rick still run his hand through his hair when he was nervous? Would he be as excited to see Daryl as Daryl was to see him? Would he-

“Hey there, stranger” came a velvety voice behind to his left. Daryl spun round and was momentarily back to being in college. The blue eyes staring straight into his and the wide grin bringing him a nostalgic reminder of the years that had passed. Rick’s eyes held dark bags underneath and his hair was a mess of unruly curls, but he still looked just the same as the last time they had seen each other. Daryl grinned back and stepped into his open arms, giving and receiving a strong bear hug.

“Rick fucking Grimes”, Daryl laughed, patting him on the back, “So good to see you man. How’ve you been?”

They parted, both still grinning and straightening out their jackets.

“Oh, ya know, alright I guess” Rick said, laughing a little and gesturing to Daryl to take a seat at the empty booth to their right. They both shrugged out of their jackets and sat comfortably in the booth.

“So, what have you been up to these past years, Daryl?” Rick asked, leaning forward on his forearms. 

“Heh, a lot, man. Been six years”, Daryl replied shyly, “I’m head mechanic at a garage, good hours and good pay, got my own place and a really nice bike that’s parked out front, all good”.

“Good, I’m glad” Rick said, smiling, “You know roughly everything that’s happened with me- was married, caught her banging a guy from my precinct, and we have a 5 year old, Carl. He’s amazing”

Daryl smiled at Rick’s mention of his son, he looked younger when he spoke of him. It dawned on Daryl in the next moment that in his description of his life, he had failed to mention Paul once. He rushed to correct that oversight.

“Oh, I almost forgot, I also have a—“

“Did you want a drink? I meant to ask before we sat down” Rick interrupted, reaching for his jacket pocket and producing his wallet.

“Oh, uh, yeah sure, man, thanks” Daryl replied, nodding, “Just a beer will be fine”

“Cool, be right back”, Rick said.

As he left the booth and passed Daryl to the bar, Rick paused for a second and placed his hand on Daryl’s shoulder, squeezing with a small smile before he walked away.   
That was fucking weird, Daryl thought, shaking his head and getting his phone out of his pocket now he was alone. He had felt it vibrating while he and Rick had spoken. He found two messages from Paul.

\--I’m sorry  
\--Have a good time with your friend, I love you xxx

Daryl smiled down at his phone, tapping out a quick reply  
\--Love you too, douchebag <3 xxx

“Who’s got you grinning so hard?” came Rick’s voice from opposite. Daryl hadn’t even noticed his return.

“Oh, just my boyfriend, he said he hopes we have a good night out. Thanks for the beer, man” Daryl said, pocketing his phone and taking a sip. When Rick didn’t immediately respond, Daryl looked up and saw his friend sitting frozen with a shocked expression on his face.

“Oh” he said, tapping his fingers against his glass, “You never mentioned you had a boyfriend. How long you guys been together?”

“Four years a few weeks back, we live together, thinking about getting married in the next couple years or so”, Daryl gushed, a sense of pride from talking about Paul rising in his chest, “His name’s Paul, he trains people in Karate and Jujitsu and tutors kids from the local school in Science”.

“He sounds really great”, Rick smiled, but it seemed almost forced to Daryl. 

Once the topic of Paul had come up, the subject had changed over and over again, not once returning to him. They discussed work, Rick’s hunt for a new job, his son, his divorce and marriage, Daryl’s bike and plans to meet up more often in the future. They didn’t get past one beer each, slowly sipping them as each detail of their lives over the past years was brought up.

“Shit, man, it’s 11 already, I need to go, have work at 8 tomorrow” Daryl said apologetically, but Rick waved his expression away.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it, I’ll come out with you, I should get back to my hotel anyway”, He replied, finishing the last of his beer as the two men left the booth and wandered out of the bar shoulder to shoulder, nudging each other like teenagers.

Once outside, they hovered over to Daryl’s bike, and spent a further five minutes inspecting it, with Daryl showing him all of the modifications he had done.

“I’ll take you for a ride on it another time, man”, Daryl said as he swung his leg over the seat and got comfortable.

“Well”, Rick murmured, stepping closer and putting his hand on Daryl’s shoulder again, “Maybe we could take a ride on it now, back to my hotel”.

Daryl froze, confused at the other man’s words, not registering what Rick was implying until Rick’s face was suddenly much closer and his lips were brushing Daryl’s. Daryl jerked back so fast he almost knocked his bike over its kickstand. He shoved Rick away from him and shot off the bike to stand on the other side of it.

“What the fuck, Rick?!” Daryl demanded, “I’ve got a boyfriend, one I love and live with, why the fuck would you try and kiss me?”

“Oh, come the fuck on, Daryl. You can’t tell me you’re happier with this Paul guy than you were with me”, Rick sneered, “I was your first love, the most important, and you loved me. We were amazing together and you know I did you good all the times we were together. You seriously telling me that little ninja you’re with does you better than I did?”  
Daryl blanched at the venomous words coming from Rick’s mouth. It dawned in the back of his mind that he would likely be hearing the words ‘I told you so’ from Paul later tonight, because he had been completely right to be concerned about Daryl seeing Rick.

“Paul is the love of my life. You were my first love, yeah, but that was years ago”, Daryl ranted, his hands curling into fists at his sides, “You were the one who started things, you were the one who convinced me to do the friends with benefits thing, you were the one to initiate anytime we fucked, and you were the one who fucked off and left me for some girl you met and knocked up, without another word or backward glance, leaving me alone. It’s been six years. Six years! I am happy with Paul, he understands me better than you ever did, he doesn’t care about kissing me or holding my hand in public, we have a house, and love and I’m gonna marry him someday. So don’t you fucking dare talk about him to me, Rick, you and I are nothing anymore”.

Rick remained stoic during Daryl’s speech, mulling over the words said, and tapping his hands on the sides of his legs as he thought them over. Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime, Rick nodded and sighed.

“I’m sorry” he muttered, looking up to meet Daryl’s eyes, “I’ve lost everything- my marriage, my wife, my job, I only get to see Carl at the weekends, my best friend fucked my wife, so I’ve lost him too, I was just hoping that the last thing left of my old life would be there for me to go to, but clearly you’re happier now with your life than when we were at college. So, I’m sorry for kissing you”.

Daryl huffed out an almost laugh, his hands uncurling. He ran one through his unruly hair.

“I get that, man. Your life is going to shit right now, but that don’t mean you can just kiss me and expect it all to be better. I forgive you for the kiss, but not for what you said about Paul, that’ll take some time”, he said, and Rick nodded, “But, I am willing to meet up and still be friends whenever you’re in town, maybe bring Paul so you can meet him once you’ve figured out what you’re gonna do with everything”.

Rick smiled and nodded gratefully as Daryl sat back on his bike. Daryl held his hand out and they shook on it, avoiding each other’s eyes as Daryl backed the bike out of his spot.

“See you soon, Grimes, keep in touch, yeah? And good luck with it all, I really hope it works out for you”, Daryl said sincerely, waving at his friend. Rick awkwardly waved back and turned to walk to his truck parked a few spaces away. The last Daryl saw of him was his curly hair disappearing into the cab as Daryl sped away home.

 

All lights except the lamp in the living room were off when Daryl pulled into the driveway of their house. He knew Paul would wait up for him, fight or no fight. He always did. It was one of the many countless things Paul would do for Daryl to show his love. Much like the lunches he made for Daryl every day, despite the other man claiming he wasn’t a damn child, and the notes left on his bike, and the way Paul would smooth Daryl’s shaggy hair out at the back of his head when he thought Daryl was asleep because he knew it bothered the other man when his hair stuck out. God, Daryl loved him. 

When Daryl entered the living room, he didn’t know what to expect. Would Paul still be itching for a fight? Would he want Daryl to sleep in there that night? They seemed to have resolved it somewhat with their texts earlier, but Daryl wasn’t sure if that was Paul biding his time to have another fight when Daryl got home. What he got when he entered the room was something he hadn’t anticipated. Within almost two seconds of walking into the living room, before he could even open his mouth to speak, he found himself with an armful of his boyfriend, who was clutching at him with all the force of a drowning man with a lifeboat. He could barely make out what Paul was saying as his face was squished into Daryl’s neck so hard.

“I’m so sorry, oh my god, Daryl, babe, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up Alex, or throw any of the shit in your face that happened before, I’m sorry” he babbled, gripping Daryl harder round the middle.

“Paul-Paul! Hey!” Daryl shouted over the babbling, pushing Paul to arm’s length to see his face, “It’s fine, babe, I understand where it all came from, I don’t blame you and I’m not angry. In fact…you were kinda right about Rick”.

Paul’s eyes narrowed as he backed out of Daryl’s hold.

“What do you mean?” he asked suspiciously.

“I mean that at the end of the night, when we left the bar, he came onto me and kissed me. Well, he tried to, I shoved him off of me when I realised what was going on”, Daryl said, some shame seeping into his voice.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Paul fumed, “What the fuck? Did you tell him you had a boyfriend? How dare he, I don’t care if he’s got a lot of shit going on right now, you don’t just fucking kiss other people’s partners just because you guys had a weird arrangement a million years ago and now he’s single and sad and—“

“I know, Paul! I get it, I said the same thing to him after he did it, and then I drove off, told him good luck with all his shit”, Daryl admitted, “You’re the one I love, more than anything, and I would never dream of going behind your back, baby, not for him or anyone else, okay?”

Paul smiled and stepped forward, his hand finding Daryl’s cheek as his lips met his. They kissed for a few moments as Daryl wound his arms around Paul and Paul’s other hand buried in Daryl’s hair. They parted to catch their breath and stared into each other’s eyes. 

“I’m sorry I made you feel like an idiot for being worried”, Daryl whispered, stroking Paul’s sides, “I know it must have made you feel like shit, and I don’t wanna be like that prick you were with before and make you feel guilty—“

“You don’t!” Paul exclaimed, “Daryl, you’re amazing, you make me feel good about myself, and good in other ways too”

“Oh, really?” Daryl said, his grip tightening as his eyes grew darker and suggestive.

Paul’s eyes glinted with mischief.

“What do you say we take this upstairs and make up the old fashioned way?” He suggested, crowding Daryl more and rubbing their bodies together. 

Daryl grabbed him by the hips and picked him up in a fireman’s lift, carrying his long haired boyfriend up the stairs and grinning as Paul’s laughter echoed down the hall.

Daryl never did make it to work on time the next day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave comments on your thoughts about this!
> 
> This is my first ever fanfic post, so please be gentle! :)


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